The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1887-01-01
FANCY pIosoMs.


"Plcasc tell me something nboSs
pigeons" said reporter the other day
to one Of the most extensive dealers "A
those birds in the city.
"The varieties you see are limited, "
he said, "as keep only stock that !.
fancy in every sense and therefore
dear. Here are Jaoobins, SO called, !
presume, from the peculiar shape Of
their head feather. which resembles
the Phrygian cap. They are very beau
ful birds and with the barbs, pouters
and carriers bring high prices. have
know pair of barbs to bring $500, and
I myself have sold one for $l40. The
are dear because they rare scarce mn
they are beautiful the two things tha
give value to diamonds and very pretty
women. POuters are also rare birds
they do not'breed as fast as the ordinl|
ary pigeon, and are therefore in de-
mand. Carriers are valuable becausel
they are useful, and 1t Is to me IL natl
ter of surprise that they are not utilized
in this country more than they arg
They are now raised and kept for the
amusement of connoisseurs, and yet
the time may come when it will be
matter of regret that the birds have
been neglected"
True, but what kind of bird is
this, the white and brownp"
''That is tumbler. These birds also
bring high prices. They love to fly
high into the air, until they are lost
almost to sight, and then, turning SOM
ersault after somersault, descend with
great rapidity until they almost touch
the ground"
"Why do they do thatp"
81 really can't say. Pigeons are not
communicative as rule, but presume
it amuses them. There are different
sorts of tumblers. Some make mighty
efforts to perform u somersault, but can
not accomplish it; they can only go
half way, which is termed fall, and
others of them can do three-quarters.
which is tipping the head and tall II
you cross an accomplished tumbler
with one that can only do fall, the
the result will be mean, but you can
cross u fall pigeon with a head and
tail pigeon for century, without pro-,
ducing perfect tumbler. That prettyA
milk-white bird is nun, so called from
her feathery hood, and he with the Big
craw is a pouter. Pouters grow to a
large size. Oh, yes, pigeons breed
very fast, almost as fast us rabbits, and
if it were not for the fact that they have
so many enemies would soon become u
nuisance. The common run have young
ones once every two months, and it is
not unusual to see q pair feeding their
'squealers' while breaking the shell to
assist later progeny into this wicked
world. should say there are hundreds
of thousands of them in New York,
chiefly owned by Germans, who are
great raiscrs and importers of pigeons
and canaries. What we call fancy
birds, however, are not good breeders;
ii they were they would be no longer
fancy. Of course large numbers of pig
cons are eaten. Most people like a
pigeon pie, and there are epicures
among us who consume large numbers
of pigeons eggs, raw and cooked. The
ladies say they are good for the COM
pleXion. Owing to this and the causes
already stated-seeing that the average
pigeon lives eight years-the birds do
not increase as rapidly rs they other
wise would if left undisturbed. See!
This is u runt and is even bigger than q
pouter. The species is very scarce and,
sells well. Indeed, it is only bought
by fanciers, among whom there is con-
tinuous trading.-M Y. Tribune.